If you want to know why the Orlando Magic are holding out, waiting for a better offer to come their way for Dwight Howard, it is in part because they know other offers will come. Other teams will at least probe the talks.

Like, the Dallas Mavericks.

Dallas has had conversations with Orlando about a Dwight Howard trade in the last week, the Magic GM confirmed to Mike Fisher at FoxSportsSouthwest.com. But he adds that you shouldn’t bet on a deal actually happening.

“There’s just not much there (in terms of a Mavs-Magic trade to be done in 2012),” Nelson tells us.

Nelson suggests that there are offers on the table for Dwight that “trump” what Dallas can present now or in the near future, which includes expiring contracts, the promise of cap space, and maybe the willingness to take back contract ballast.

The most likely way Dallas lands Howard is he becomes a free agent next summer and comes to Dallas. That would come about because Orlando doesn’t trade him or does send him to a place he will not sign an extension beyond next season. Most likely Howard will get traded, it’s just where that is up in the air.

We know about a couple proposed deals. There is the one where the Lakers land Howard and offer up Andrew Bynum as the key piece going out, either to Orlando directly or to a third team (Cleveland or Houston) that would send picks and/or young players to Orlando. Then there is talk of a direct Houston deal with Orlando that would send picks and young players to Orlando for a rental of Howard (the center has said he would not sign a new deal to stay in Houston beyond this season).

Neither of those deals was good enough for Orlando to pull the trigger.

So we go around in circles, and the Magic wait to see if other teams will jump in. Dallas did, but like most teams they don’t have more to offer than the teams already in the game.

The underlying problem is that Orlando wants to unload most of it’s bad contracts and no other team wants to take all of them (in addition to picks). Cuban’s too good an owner to weigh the Mavericks down with bad contracts after letting so many of their core players walk away last year.

Any Dallas talks would have to revolve around the trade deadline. They simply don’t have enough contract dollars they can trade until then. Mayo and Kaman are tied as new signees. Brand can’t be traded this year as an amnesty claim. Collison has 60 days to wait.

That leaves Marion and Carter, with Carter having the only attractive contract of the two. Marion is guaranted for this season and the next at a pretty high dollar amount.

Just don’t see this happening. Glad the Mavs have at least reached out. Should show Howard the love from Dallas.

If I’m the Magic I keep sitting on him until they either get a Melo type offer or until next offseason and see if he’s actually got the balls to walk away from an extra guaranteed 25 million. Not ideal, but they don’t have a ton of leverage at this point and it’s better than the craptuacular offers that are out there now. If he won’t sign, you’ve still got a sign and trade option, you can get a trade exception, or you can get cap relief. No matter what happens you’re several years away from being a real contender again so there’s no reason to give him away. You can say the fans will turn on them or the circus will be too much, but it’s not like they’d come out to see Jameer Nelson and Houston’s or Cleveland’s draft picks lose anyway.

for some strange reason…i do think this is where DH ends up at, Dallas…next year thru FA…due to the Magic twidling their thumbs too long (Lakers eventually will resign AB and Nets unwilling to break their 4-core)…but hey who knows…